Soldiers in Iraq 'did not have WMD protection'

[Barrett808]

By Kim Sengupta
12 December 2003

British forces went into battle in the Iraq war without protective equipment against weapons of mass destruction -- the very "threat" used by Tony Blair to justify joining the American-led invasion.

Not one single tank or armoured vehicle was fitted with the required filter to guard against chemical and biological attacks. And the entire stock of vapour detection kits, needed after a suspected chemical attack, was found to be unusable.

An official audit found that many soldiers were issued with NBC (nuclear, chemical and biological) suits of the wrong size, making them useless, as well as ill-fitting respirators.

Supplies sent to the war zone often got lost, according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) published today.

One frontline unit was sent back 3,400 miles to Bicester in Oxfordshire to try to find its WMD equipment, which it failed to do. By the time the fighting started, there was not even enough body armour for conventional warfare, spare parts for helicopters or medical supplies. Thousands of pairs of boots were missing, and 50,000 sets of desert jackets and suits had not reached the troops.

(more)

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=472468

[Kremer]

1. It's obvious they either knew there would be no WMD or

simply didn't care if their men got exposed to deadly chemicals. Either way, it's not good. Mr. Blair will hear it on this one!! Next Tues question/answer session in parliment should be good.

[w4rma]

5. I think "didn't care" is correct. Maybe they were hoping for a WMD attack.

Bush/Blair could try to use the soldiers horrible deaths and sicknesses to rally their citizens in support of further invading Iran, Syria and maybe more.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. look on the bright side!

logistical problems wee (and are not) uniquely ours!

[corporatewhore]

3. a retired army guy told me that

he knew this was not about wmds by the time they sent the soliders.He told me that when he trained in hazmat suits they were hot as hell and that as early as april it gets over 100 degrees in iraq.

[BigBigBear]

4. Newsflash

The UN inspectors were only there to VERIFY that it was safe to invade. Which they did.

If GWB or Blair REALLY thought there were huge stockpiles of these weapons, armed and ready to deploy, Saddam would still be in power.

[rooboy]

6. I can't argue with that. n/t

[mistertrickster]

10. That's a very good observation . . . Hadn't thought of that.

Also explains why Kim Il Jong sits safely on his throne. He actually HAS the "nukulur" bomb.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

11. Good point. Damned good point.

[rustydog]

7. I don't recall seeing one soldier in a NBC Suit

from imbedded reporters telecasts.
Not one. Yet if the threat existed, NBS's should have been on all the time, you can't don the gear after the ordinance bursts in your midsts.

I believe Bush and the Pentagon KNEW there were no WMD and that is why there were no suits seen.

If there were WMD's why didn't our troops seize any suspected sites?
We only seized oil facilities.
I thought the threat to America and the world was WMD, not oil.

[punpirate]

9. I recall a very funny moment...

... at the start of the war when there was a supposed SCUD attack near the Kuwaiti border, with a woman reporting that they'd been ordered to don masks, so she was giving her update in a gas mask and a t-shirt.

As if skin contact meant nothing.... Those reporters were reportedly trained by the military beforehand (what did the military actually tell them about mustard gas and VX and sarin?).

My feeling at the time was that it was all for show, that the American public was so misinformed that they wouldn't have noticed the absurdity of it all.

[grasswire]

8. I always thought....

....the BFEE KNEW there were no WMD. I figured that partly explains the rush to get the war on before the weapons inspectors kept on finding NO weapons.

They had to get the toehold in order to secure the oil and resources and the building of military bases to control the ME.

There were no WMD. They knew it. They knew it all along.

[UpInArms]

12. I thought that their plan

in case of the death of troops was to "bulldoze" them into mass graves.

Rather callous and nasty, imho.

But then we are dealing with rather shallow and vicious thinkers (if they do such an exercise).

[Dr Fate]

13. Bush/media knew thay did not exist-they lied & lied. It's so obvious. n/t

n/t